“True terror,” claims novelist Kurt Vonnegut, “is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.” Well for me this has been a week of reunions. Last Friday, members of my old class at Waterloo Grammar School gathered at the Royal Hotel while last night here in London our Catz economists group, all five of us, assembled at - of all places - the Athenaeum, within six minutes walking distance of Downing Street. You will be relieved to k

It was a case of “Yes, Prime Minister” meets “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Such was the resignation of Liz Truss, now consigned to be an answer in countless pub quizzes. Both tragic and inevitable, giving the impression that our nation is unable to govern itself. As the New York Times observes: “With the government in chaos, Britons are wondering what the instability at the top of the government could portend for a country battling double-digit inflation and widening econom

“So you’ve come back again? Dear, oh dear. Anyway . . .” For the record I am writing this blog as Kwasi Kwarteng is still in the air, flying back one day early for crisis meetings with his embattled Prime Minister. Who knows what the situation will be when you read this sentence? Just now I notice that former Conservative leader, William Hague, has told the BBC that he has never seen anything like the current political turbulence engulfing Liz Truss's government. Even, it s

It’s been a week of U-turns. Memorably we had the U-turn over the tax rate for high earners. Dramatically just the day after the PM’s statement that she was “absolutely committed” to the cut. Ouch! U-turns are generally considered bad form, a sign of weakness when strong opposition is encountered. Such an about-turn, as we have witnessed, is often dramatic and very public. Take a U-turn at your peril. As it happens we were in Arnhem the other week, the site of “the bridge t